


Mistaken for Sinners

by soidiallednine



Series: How Fitting and Sweet [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Spy, Angst, Enemies to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Sharing a Bed, War, Wordplay Fic Challenge (One Direction), but AU versions of these, the death of Jay Deakin is mentioned as a memory, the trauma of war poverty and colonization/occupation are discussed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:34:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25401688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soidiallednine/pseuds/soidiallednine
Summary: The planets Walloq and Traj have been at odds for nearly a century. If nothing is done soon to stop the war, the future of both worlds may be lost. Louis Tomlinson is a member of the Trajan resistance, operating undercover on Walloq. He hopes his mission will bring the resistance closer to ending the war and, in the process, save what’s left of his family. Dr. Harry Styles is the son of the president of Walloq, pampered and privileged - and the target of Louis’s mission. Harry is also playing a secret role in the conflict, one that puts him in grave danger on his home planet. When Louis’s cover is blown, he needs to flee Walloq and try to make it back to Traj safely. Whether he likes it or not, Harry is coming along for the ride.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: How Fitting and Sweet [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817845
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31
Collections: Prompt 3.4: Sin





	Mistaken for Sinners

**Author's Note:**

> This week's installment is a bit shorter than I had intended and also a bit angstier. While I'm sure we'll get some great positive (and smutty) fics this week, the "sin" prompt sent me in a darker direction. This chapter considers what Harry owes to the man who committed a great sin and took him away from his life, and it explores Louis's trauma and how it is shaped by both personal and collective notions of original sin. Both Harry and Louis are having a rough time of it as they get to Traj, but I promise better things are just around the corner. 
> 
> I was late with the writing this week, so Shannon didn't have an opportunity to do much betaing, but I appreciate all the help she has given me through this process.
> 
> The title is a play on the song [Mistaken for Strangers](https://open.spotify.com/track/7EaGVjF3Nz9nLtAcJGSHqz?si=BblGIk6OQuWpyEUJUr5ZEg) by The National. The lyrics can be found [here](https://genius.com/The-national-mistaken-for-strangers-lyrics). I was particularly struck by the chorus where writing this chapter:
> 
> You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends  
> When you pass by them at night  
> Under the silvery, silvery Citibank lights  
> Arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
> 
> Oh, you wouldn't want an angel watching over  
> Surprise, surprise, they wouldn't wanna watch  
> Another un-innocent, elegant fall  
> Into the un-magnificent lives of adults
> 
> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge for the prompt "sin". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/sin), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge (including years 1-3), [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works). You can also find the masterpost for this year’s challenge [here](https://wordplayfics.tumblr.com/post/622306139518926848/wordplay-2020-every-week-for-five-weeks-a-prompt).
> 
> A Tumblr ficpost for How Sweet and Fitting can be found [here](https://soidiallednine.tumblr.com/post/622909837066518528/how-fitting-and-sweet-by-soidiallednine). Please reblog if you enjoy the fic.

_ “Sin is geographical.” -- Bertrand Russell _

* * *

“How far away is he?” Harry asked, bouncing up and down on his toes. He wanted out of this container NOW. When their cargo ship had been few hours out from the spaceport above Traj, Louis’s wrist communicator finally picked up data again. His friend Niall had told them that they needed to stay put in the container until it was unloaded and transferred to the port’s loading bay area. Then he’d come by to get them.

“He’ll be here soon, Harry. Do you have everything you want to take? We’re certainly not coming back.” Louis shoved a few things into his backpack and sat down on the pallet to put his shoes on.

“Oh, yeah! Almost forgot.” Harry went to the cabinet and took out the Master Baiter sweatshirt. “This baby is coming along!”

“No, Harry.”

“Yes, Louis.”

Louis sighed. “Whatever. But you have to carry it.”

“No problem!” Harry smiled and, after a moment’s consideration, put it on over the long-sleeved black t-shirt he’d been wearing for the last two days. Louis just rolled his eyes.

A shout from outside drew their attention. Bessie’s, too. Harry was really glad they’d been able to save Bessie as well as themselves, but Louis’s friend needed to hurry up and get them out of there before Bessie’s owners showed up and got a major shock not only the state of her container but also the two stowaways.

Suddenly, the life support seal on Harry and Louis’s side of the container released and the door slid open. Harry blinked at the bright light that poured in. A single person stood in the doorway.

“Tommo! Like what you’ve done with the place!”

“We did some necessary redecorating, Niall. Got us here alive.”

“Well, I’m glad to see you alive and well. We gotta go. I have a shuttle waiting.”

Without ever acknowledging Harry’s existence, Niall turned and started hurrying across the cargo bay.

“Let’s go, Harry. Try to keep up.”

With that, Louis was out the door, too. Harry glanced back into the container..

“Goodbye, Bessie. Thank you.”

Bessie mooed in reply, like she understood. Harry ran after Louis, trying to keep up, as instructed. By the time he caught up with them, Niall and Louis had opened one of the cargo bay doors meant for maintenance. Niall stopped them before they could exit, though.

“This will lead us into the spaceport. I borrowed a pass from some friends to get us in here, but we need to get to the private boarding area, which is on a different level, without drawing suspicion. To get him through the security checks, we need to implement security command control protocols.” 

Niall addressed Louis only, still not looking at Harry, which was really annoying.

“Do we have to?” Louis asked Niall.

“Of course. Is that a problem?” Niall looked at Louis, obviously confused.

“I don’t want to do that to him.”

Niall laughed. 

“Why not? Will it hurt his precious Walloqi feelings?”

Harry was really getting the sense that Niall didn’t like him for some reason. They’d known each other for approximately three minutes, during which Niall hadn’t even looked at him. How could he dislike him so quickly?

“Hey, I --” Louis lifted a hand to cut Harry off.

“No time,” Louis said, turning to Harry and looking him over. “Harry, I know you’re not going to like this, but you’ve got to pretend to be our prisoner.”

“Louis, I AM your prisoner,” Harry exclaimed with a laugh.

Louis blushed lightly, as if he were embarrassed about that. Or maybe he was embarrassed about how rude Niall was being.

“Yeah, well, now we have to make it actually look like you are. Take off that sweatshirt. What you’re wearing underneath is fine.”

Harry humphed, but complied. “Will you hold onto it for me?” Harry fluttered his eyes at Louis, trying to make light of the situation to ease the tension. Louis blushed again, which wasn’t exactly the reaction Harry had expected given the current situation. Louis seemed more out of sorts than he had at any point other than when he had panicked about the life support system failure.

“Yeah, ahem, yeah, give it here.” Louis reached out for the sweatshirt, tucking it under his arm. He rustled through his bag, pulling out, of all things, a pair of handcuffs. He then shoved the sweatshirt into the bag.

“Why, Lou, if I had known we had those all along, the last ten days could have been way more fun.” If Harry was going to have to wear those things, he was going to make it as much of a joke as possible. Maybe it would lighten Niall up. And Louis, who looked fairly miserable at the moment. He knew Louis was sorry that he’d had to drag Harry along and get him into danger. And he knew Louis was not immune to his charms, though he thought a lot of that was due to them being in such close proximity for so long. Maybe some flirting could lighten the mood.

“What position do you want me in?”

Louis was clearly uncomfortable with Harry’s jokes, and he refused to meet his eyes.

“Behind your back. Trajan prisoners are always cuffed behind their back.”

“Kinky. I like it. Do I need to be on my knees when you put the cuffs on?” Harry couldn’t wink at Louis if he wouldn’t make eye contact, but he could up the ante with his comments. Louis sighed, seemingly both frustrated and, if his flushed skin was anything to go by, turned on.

“Boys! Enough with the flirting! We gotta go.” Niall was having none of it. He still wasn’t looking at Harry, but was glaring at Louis as if he’d lost his mind.

Niall’s urging spurred Louis out of his discomfort, and he turned Harry around to clasp the cuffs around his wrists.

“Here, Lou. Security badges.” Niall passed Louis the badge, along with a red armband with an insignia Harry wasn’t familiar with and a holster with a gun in it. Louis put on the armband and strapped the holster across his chest. Harry noticed that Niall had a similar holster strapped under his jacket. “I don’t have an extra jacket but if anyone asks, yours was lost recovering the prisoner. Are we ready?”

Louis shrugged on the backpack and took Harry’s arm.

“Lead the way, Niall.”

* * *

Their journey through the spaceport was pretty tense, but security allowed them to pass through to the private boarding area. Of course they did -- mere spaceport security was not going to question two officers of the Secret Police of the Trajan Security Command. To do so would risk ending up vanished into one of the many underground detention centers. Louis wasn’t sure how Niall had obtained the badges, and he wasn’t going to ask. Much of the tension had been from Harry’s gawking. More than a few of the spaceport passengers and employees had noticed him looking at everyone and everything. This more than anything marked him as an off-worlder. Trajans didn’t look around. They’d long ago learned to stifle their curiosity. 

Because of this gawking and foot-dragging, Louis had been rough with Harry a few times to maintain their cover. At one of the security checkpoints, he had to shake him and yell at him, calling him a few choice names. Harry had looked at him like Louis had betrayed him. Louis was pretty sure that Harry understood it was all an act to keep them safe, but Louis had felt real shame at how he was treating him. Harry didn’t deserve that. 

Louis was relieved when they were able to board the private shuttle Niall had secured. In addition to the three of them, only the pilot and single attendant were aboard. The attendant helped them board and then disappeared into the back of the ship. Louis removed Harry’s cuffs.

“You might want to sit by a window, Harry. It’ll be a few hours before we get to Castr. You’ll have a good view of the city and the surrounding area for the last hour or so.” Louis spoke kindly, trying to convey his apology for the mistreatment. Harry chose a seat near a window as far from Louis as possible. Apparently he wasn’t quite ready to forgive Louis.

Louis sighed and sat next to Niall near the front of the shuttle.

“What the fuck, Lou?” Niall was looking at him as if he’d lost his mind. “I know you know better than to get cozy with Matchstick. Tell me that I didn’t see you reacting to his flirting back there. Tell me that you are still objective and on mission.”

Louis dropped his head into his hands and groaned.

“It’s been a long few weeks, Niall. A lot has happened. We were in that container for ten days. We nearly died! In fact, if Harry hadn’t figured out how to save us, we  _ would _ have died. No one could remain totally objective when their life has been in someone else’s hands.”

“I’m not sure that’s true,” Niall said. “I know you. If anyone had asked me if someone could extract an asset from Walloq and get them here without getting personally involved, I would have suggested you, Lou. You’re our strongest agent, a model for all the others.”

Louis knew what Niall meant, even if he was too kind to say it. Louis was the most emotionless agent, the coldest. Over the last few years he had been on several undercover missions where he feigned emotion, where he feigned connection with people to get what was needed. But between missions and while he was training, he rarely expressed any emotions other than maybe frustration or anger. He knew that some of the agents called him “The Robot” behind his back. They didn’t mean it as a complement, but Louis knew that the only way he could survive was to ignore how he felt, to be as cold as he could. Emotion opened the door to memory and to pain. He couldn’t handle any more pain.

When he was on mission, though, Louis could become another person, someone with a different set of memories. His time with Harry so far had been a weird limbo period. There was more of the real him in who he was with Harry than there had been with just about anyone for years. Niall had known him since they were kids, since before the war. He continued to treat Louis as he always had, even if Louis was a different person now. No one else would have had the courage to question Louis about his behavior. Louis couldn’t just brush off his questions. He owed him a lot, including a bit of honesty.

“I don’t know, Niall. He’s not what I expected. Sure, he’s spoiled and privileged. Of course he is, considering who he is. But he’s also kind and funny and smart. And he actually seems invested in helping us. I didn’t give him much choice, but he never really fought back or tried to run. I think he understands that this is important to me.”

“So, you’re making him loyal to you so that he’ll do what we ask?” 

That wasn’t what Louis was saying, but he realized Niall was giving him an out. 

“Yes, Niall. If Harry is loyal to me, if he’s attached to me, I think he’ll do what we need him to do.”

Niall seemed content with this answer, but Louis was uneasy. He had never thought about trying to curry Harry’s devotion just to use him. It was as if since they ran out of Harry’s office that day, he’d forgotten all of his training. He’d just responded to Harry naturally. It had been a long time since Louis had allowed himself to actually act without planning every move to elicit a specific response from a mark. 

Louis felt the shuttle take off from the spaceport. Niall had busied himself with a pad, so Louis settled back in his seat and closed his eyes. He had a lot to think about.

* * *

Several hours later Harry was alone in a small apartment somewhere in the city of Castr. The flight into the city had been fascinating, as Louis had suggested. Castr was very different from any Walloqi city Harry had ever visited. The buildings were squat and heavy and almost all seemed to have been constructed with a grey cement that had become dingy in the dirty Castran air. As they had descended through the cloud layer, Harry had seen a number of factories on the edges of the city, all belching dark smoke and multicolored flames into the air. Other than those flames, everything looked grey and brown. It was one of the most lifeless vistas Harry had ever seen. Even the surrounding countryside was devoid of green vegetation. Perhaps there was arable land beyond what Harry could see from the shuttle, but so far Traj appeared to be all rock and dirt and cement.

This little apartment was just as ugly. A small living room held a gray couch and two matching chairs. A vase with fake flowers in it sat on the side table, so at least there was that. A galley kitchen lined one side of the room, and a short hallway led to a single bedroom and small bathroom. The only window was in the bedroom, and it looked out at another gray building across a narrow alleyway. 

It was hard to tell due to the smoke and clouds, but Harry was pretty sure they had arrived in late evening. Louis had quickly taken a shower and changed into some clothes from the bedroom and had left with Niall, off to meet with whomever they answered to. Louis had told him he could shower and and eat whatever he wanted from the kitchen, and that he’d be back as soon as he could.

Harry could see a lock on the door similar to the one from the safehouse on Walloqi. He was most definitely a prisoner. Harry didn’t know what he had expected when they’d arrived on Traj, but it wasn’t for Louis to drag him like a prisoner through a spaceport and then dump him by himself in a tiny apartment. Harry felt tears well up. Louis had been so cruel to him at the spaceport. No one had ever said such things to him before. His father was indifferent to him, but he wasn’t cruel. Even the boys at school who bullied others hadn’t turned their focus to him. He had thought that he and Louis had an understanding of sorts, that they were in this together. Apparently, he had been wrong.

Harry wiped his eyes and set his shoulders. Crying wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He needed to take care of himself so that he could protect himself. He could only depend on himself, so he had to make sure he was at his best. He found some food in the fridge and ate. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it wasn’t a protein bar and it did the job. He went to take a shower.

* * *

Louis let himself into the small apartment and collapsed onto the couch. He’d been at headquarters for hours. A number of his colleagues had debriefed him and updated him about what had occurred while he and Harry had been traveling to Traj. Together they had developed a plan for what to do with Harry now that he was here. Louis wasn’t sure that Harry was going to like it, but for now, it was the best plan they had.

Louis was exhausted. He needed food and sleep. Updating Harry would have to wait until morning. Louis pushed himself up off the couch and headed for the kitchen. Suddenly, Harry appeared in the hallway, dripping wet and wearing only a towel. Louis stopped, struck not only by Harry’s gorgeous body on display but by the anger that radiated from him.

“Back now, are you?” Louis hadn’t heard Harry like this before. He’d heard Harry in doctor mode, he’d heard him scared, he’d heard him bored. But now Harry’s voice was deep and sharp. “Figure out what to do with your Matchstick next?”

“We can talk about that tomorrow, Harry. We should get some rest tonight.”

“Of course. You just tell me what to do, Louis. I’ll comply like a good loyal prisoner. Gotta make sure everyone knows I’m devoted to you.” 

Harry had reached his arms up and out and braced them on the hallway side of the doorframe, leaning his weight forward. The stance was strangely intimidating and erotic. Somehow the towel stayed tied around his hips. 

Louis was overwhelmed and confused. He tried to think about what Harry was saying, but he was so tired and hungry. And Harry was standing there looking like that. Louis noticed a drop of water fall from Harry’s hair onto his chest. He watched it roll down to Harry’s abs, which were stretched and flat from the position he was in.

“Lou!”

“What? Huh?” Louis shook his head, trying to focus. “I’m sorry, I’m so tired. Whatever it is you’re angry about, can we deal with it tomorrow? I need sleep. And food.”

Harry dropped his arms and stalked toward Louis, who backed up quickly, eventually running into the small dining table against the wall. Louis reached back with both arms to stop himself from falling over the table. Harry didn’t stop. Louis leaned back as Harry moved into his personal space, pinning him there with a look. In the few hours he’d been left alone in the apartment, Harry had gained an assertiveness he hadn’t shown before.

“No! We are going to talk about this now!” Harry was so up in his face that Louis could feel his breath as he shouted. Louis shuddered. He wasn’t sure if he was afraid of Harry or unbelievably turned on. Maybe a little of both. Louis needed to reestablish control of the situation.

“Harry! What has gotten into you? This isn’t you. Stop it! I know this is scary for you, but we’ll figure it out. What happened to the guy who was so willing to help the cause?”

Harry growled. He actually growled. Louis realized that Harry had pressed forward more and they were now chest to chest, Harry also bracing himself on the table. He felt Harry’s growl rumble through him.

“That Harry was too stupid to realize that you were just trying to gain his affection so you could manipulate him.”

“What are you talking about Harry? I haven’t been manipulating you. I’ve been pretty honest with you, in fact.”

“I heard you on the shuttle. I heard you telling Niall about how you’re using me.”

Louis thought hard to remember the earlier conversation. It felt like it had taken place days ago. Harry must have overheard them, but Louis thought that maybe he hadn’t heard the whole conversation.

“No! Harry, you didn’t hear everything. Listen, Niall has known me since we were kids. He knew me, well, he knew me before. He saw us flirting, he saw how we interacted and he knew.” Harry tried to interrupt. Louis reached up and laid a hand on Harry’s chest. Harry’s weight was pressing him into the table. “I know, you were joking. But Niall didn’t know that. He knew that we weren’t acting like a kidnapper and prisoner. He knows me. He can read me. I needed to calm him down, make him stop asking questions. I didn’t mean what I said.”

“What do you mean he can read you? What do you mean ‘before’?”

“I’ll explain everything, Harry, but can we move over to the couch? The table is really cutting into my back.”

Harry flushed and jerked himself back, looking around as if he wasn’t sure how they’d gotten there.

“Sorry . . . I . . . I’m sorry, Louis. I think I got myself really worked up while you were gone. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Harry had backed himself up all the way across the room. He still radiated anger.

“You didn’t hurt me.” Louis tried to speak calmly, like he would with a spooked animal. “I will tell you what I can, but can you please do me a favor first?”

“What?”

“Please, for all that is holy, go put on some clothes. I can’t think with you naked in front of me.”

* * *

Harry went to the bedroom to get clothes and to try to calm down. There was a t-shirt, sweatpants, and briefs laying on the bed that Harry had chosen earlier. He changed quickly. He had been finishing his fourth shower -- he loved Bessie but her smell was hard to get out of his hair -- when he’d heard Louis come into the apartment. He had been so angry. For hours he’d been thinking about what he’d heard Louis say on the shuttle. He’d been so stupid to think that this was a grand adventure, and that Louis would be there by his side through it all. Louis was just using him and always had been. Harry was sorry that he’d been so aggressive with Louis though. Even if he was manipulating him, Louis hadn’t hurt him. He shouldn’t have gotten physical with his anger.

Harry went back to the living room, where Louis had gotten some food and was sitting on the couch and eating. Harry sat across from him in one of the chairs. He could see how exhausted Louis was.

“Give me a minute. Sorry,” Louis mumbled around a mouthful of food.

“Take your time.” Harry slouched back in the chair. His anger was dissipating. It was easier to be angry with Louis when he wasn’t there. When Louis was with him, however, Harry felt a sense of confusing calm. It was as if his body felt something his mind disagreed with. They’d been together constantly for almost two weeks, but Harry had to remind himself that he didn’t really know Louis. In all that time together, Louis had said almost nothing about himself. Harry knew Louis’s actions but not his thoughts. It had been easy to forget that when they were desperate to figure out how to stay alive, or when Louis was wrapped around him in sleep. 

And that was an issue that Harry didn’t want to think about. If his body was reacting to Louis separately from his mind, much of that reaction was based in lust and could not be trusted. Harry believed that Louis was also attracted to him; his body had shown that to Harry over and over. Harry didn’t think that Louis could fake that, even to try to manipulate him. If he had been trying to take advantage of Harry’s attraction, it would have been more obvious, more straightforward. Instead, Harry was sure that Louis fought their attraction. That for some reason he thought it was wrong. Harry tried to reconcile that with what Louis had told Niall.

“Okay. So, what do you want to know? I’ll tell you what I can.” Louis wiped his mouth and settled back on the couch. He looked apprehensive but determined.

“Let’s start with who you really are. Where are you from? Is Louis really your name?”

“Yes, my name is really Louis. Louis Tomlinson. I’m from a small village about 250 miles west of here in a region called Dravia. The village is gone, though. My family now lives in a relocation camp.” 

“Your family? Are you married? Do you have children?”

“No, my sisters and brother are there. They’re all I have left.”

“No parents?”

“My dad died before I was born. A mining accident. My mom was widowed three times before she died. Luckily, the people in the camp have helped over the years. I’ve been gone a while, and my sister Lottie has been taking care of the rest of my siblings. Fizzy is grown now, too, and Phoebe and Daisy are teenagers. Ernie and Doris are still quite young, though.”

Harry was surprised by the tenderness in Louis’s voice when talking about his family. Harry felt his anger ease even more.

“When did your mom pass? What happened?”

Louis flinched. This was clearly a difficult topic for him. Harry sympathized, but he needed to know what was going on. And he needed to understand Louis better.

“My mom was sick. We never really knew what was wrong with her. When I was drafted and left for boot camp, she was fine. Less than a year later, she was gone. There isn’t much medical care in the camps. She never really got any treatment. I didn’t find out until months after she had passed.”

“Oh, Lou. I’m so sorry. That’s terrible.”

Louis looked down at his hands, which were twisted together in his lap. He looked so sad.

“It was my fault. My sisters and brother are all alone because of me.”

“What do you mean it was your fault? You weren’t there, how could you have known that she was sick? What could you have done?”

“I’m bad luck, Harry. Don’t you remember the bronze moon story?”

“You can’t seriously believe that, Louis. It’s just a story.”

Louis looked up at Harry, sadness radiating from him.

“You don’t understand, Harry. Trajans have lots of stories about people being cursed and causing bad luck. So many of them apply to me. And we need those stories. I need those stories. It’s the only way to explain why so many bad things happen. I was cursed before I was even born. My mom lost her first husband because of me. Traj isn’t like Walloq, Harry. I know that there are Walloqis suffering from the war, but here everyone suffers. We tell ourselves stories to try to understand why we are suffering. If you’re not part of the elite cadre, life is brutal and short here. I seem to attract more than my fair share of that brutality, yet somehow I survive while those around me suffer. That’s why I have tried to stay away from Haven.”

“Haven?”

“The relocation camp where my family lives.” 

Louis cleared his throat and reached for his glass of water. Harry’s heart ached for him. Louis had lost whatever shields he had been keeping up since Harry had met him. Harry knew, with a therapist’s mind and a body that had memorized Louis’s every breath for the last few weeks, that he was telling the truth. Louis really believed that he was the reason for his family’s suffering. Louis took a deep breath and continued.

“When I first got to Walloq for my mission, I couldn’t believe what I saw. We’re told that the Walloqi are rich and beautiful, that you are the chosen people while we suffer because our ancestors betrayed the Avaria. Our commanders used this to make us angry at you so we would fight harder. I know that all the stories about being cursed, all the propaganda about the Great Betrayal, are tools that the elite use to keep us in line. But it was hard to remember that when I saw what life could be like. When I saw a society where my mom could have gotten medical care. I can’t help but think we must deserve to suffer.”

While Louis had been talking, all of Harry’s anger had melted away. Harry got up and crossed to the couch, sitting sideways next to Louis, trying to comfort him by being close. Louis was so in his own head that Harry was afraid to touch him. If Louis felt anything of the comfort that Harry felt from being close to him, perhaps Harry’s proximity would help ease his pain.

Harry knew a bit about the Great Betrayal from the Trajan literature he had read. A thousand years ago, Traj and Walloq had been colonized by the Avaria, a people whose home planet had become uninhabitable and who had spread across the galaxy to find other places they could live. The Avaria were far more technologically sophisticated than most of the peoples they found on inhabitable planets. They largely imposed their language and customs wherever they went. The Avaria had settled on Walloq in large numbers, intermixing with the local human population until, after several generations, there was no real difference between the peoples. Harry could trace some of his own blood back to the Avarian settlers. Walloqi culture and Avarian culture were inseparable.

The Avaria had a more difficult time integrating themselves on Traj, however, eventually building a walled-off compound where the Avarian government and business elite stayed, separate from the Trajan people. At some point the Trajan people rebelled against the Avaria, killing most of them and taking the walled city. The Avaria on other planets, including Walloq, had taken this as a great betrayal, thinking that the inhabitants of a small, backward planet made mostly of rocks should have been grateful for their governance and commerce. A large army of Avaria from many planets, including Walloq, had attacked Traj, retaking the walled city and spreading even farther across the planet than they had before. This time they imposed their ways by force rather than through assimilation into the local population. Harry wasn’t an expert in Trajan history, but he was pretty sure that the elite of Traj were still Avarian who held themselves separate and above the rest of the Trajan people. And apparently they were very effective at convincing the Trajan people that they were responsible for their own suffering.

“Oh, Louis. You don’t deserve to suffer. I’m sorry that things are so bad here. I didn’t know. I don’t think most Walloqis know how different it is. We’re told that you are barbarians who want to ruin our way of life. That you’re jealous of us. That your jealousy drives you to take more than your fair share of things. I think most educated Walloqis know that’s not really true, but to be honest, I don’t think we think much about it. I’m sorry for that. I wish I had dug deeper, that I had known more. The Archer would have written more about your suffering and not just what was happening on Walloq.”

Louis looked up at Harry. All the spark had gone out of his eyes.

“Harry, I know I owe you more of an explanation, but I am so tired. Can we sleep, please? We’re traveling again tomorrow, I can tell you more then.”

Harry didn’t have the heart to push Louis any more tonight, even to ask where they were travelling to.

“Of course, Lou. We can talk tomorrow. Come on, let’s go to bed.”

“I can sleep here on the couch. You can take the bedroom, Harry.”

“Are you kidding me? We’ve been sleeping together for almost two weeks, Louis. I’m used to you now. And this is a new place and I’m all alone and I don’t want to sleep by myself. Come on, I’ll find you something to sleep in.”

Harry rose from the couch and took Louis by the hand. Louis didn’t resist and followed Harry to the bedroom, not letting go of Harry’s hand until Harry needed to open the drawers. Harry pulled out a clean pair of boxer briefs and passed them to Louis. Harry walked to the side of the bed and stripped off his t-shirt and sweatpants before slipping under the sheets. Louis changed into the fresh underwear, his back to Harry, who, for once, didn’t avert his eyes and enjoyed the sight. Louis crawled into the other side of the bed. Harry could feel how tense he was across the small distance. He slid over and pulled Louis to him. Louis initially resisted, but gave in when Harry wouldn’t let go.

“You are not cursed, Louis Tomlinson. You are brave and you are fighting for a better world for your family. You also have a very nice ass.”

Louis huffed a small laugh. At least he wasn’t beyond the reach of some basic teasing.

“Now sleep. Tomorrow is another day. Sounds like it’ll be another adventure.”

Louis was asleep almost instantly.

Harry’s mind was running wild, though, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to fall asleep so easily. There was still so much Louis wasn’t telling him, and despite his certainty that Louis was being honest with him, Harry wasn’t sure that he could trust Louis completely. Harry knew that he could give his entire life to Louis and his cause if he let himself. That was a dangerous game, though. If Harry gave himself to Louis, who would he be? Harry didn’t believe that Louis or the Trajan people were cursed because of some sort of original sin brought on by their ancestors’ choices or by a trick of the light on a moon. But Louis undoubtedly had suffered, as had those around him. Harry knew he wouldn’t emerge from this unscathed either. How much of himself was he willing to give?

Harry was pretty sure that he’d already sacrificed his heart. The man in his arms had taken that the moment he had walked into Harry’s office, pretending to be someone else. Harry just hadn’t realized it until now. 

Thousands of miles from home, in a dingy apartment in a dingy city, on a planet very unlike his own, Harry eventually fell asleep to the rhythm of soft breathing. Whatever tomorrow brought, Harry’s heart and body were dedicated to the man sleeping next to him. In his dreams, a blue eyed boy could convince his mind to follow suit.

  
  
  



End file.
